AfricaPress-Tanzania: Coastal Travels Limited has awarded Air Transport Association (IATA) Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA) and become the first Africa airline to validate its compliance to globally accepted safety standards and recommended practices.
Costal travels is the pioneer operator in the country for many years and it has been designed for passenger and cargo operator , its ISSA certified success came after attending ISSA trainings and assessments of its pilots which is a global safety standard for commercial operators.
The IATA Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA) Program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline.
Speaking shortly after receiving the certificate in Dar es salaam yesterday, Coastal Travels Limited’s Managing Director Captain Maynard Mkumbwa said the achievement is a reflection of Coastal Travels Limited’s commitment to safety and compliance with the dynamic aviation market today, particularly with regards to how it affects traveling passengers globally.
“It is critical that airline operators raise their standards with regards to safety and compliance. This is what Coastal Travels Limited has achieved with this certification from IATA” said Capt. Mkumbwa.
Capt. Mkumbwa said that Coastal Travels has made focused on safety and that has made them top agenda after completion of two years of vital training and assessments for its pilots and hence introducing 2-crew MCC (Multi-Crew Coordinated) to all its flights.
We are now digging deeper. Our team goes through regular re-evaluation – there is a constant eye on our day-to-day operations and ensuring that we are following our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) said Capt. Mkumbwa adding that
“It is an everlasting journey with an elusive destination, but contributes to passenger reassurance and comfort. That chronic sense of unease is what will keep us alert and ready to respond”.
He added that the continual training and assessment of its pilots has further evolved, as they have established a Standards department responsible for ensuring that all of our pilots and all of our flights follow the Coastal standard.
We take feedback from multiple sources, including our own internal reporting, feedback from customers and other operators, to bring our teams to task.” said Capt. Mkumbwa.
Capt. Mkumbwa mentioned some of the benefits and opportunities for ISSA certification as Reduction of redundant audits, marketing and commercial advantages such as codeshares and interlines agreements, Reduction of insurance premiums and Preliminary step to IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit).
Others are Objective measurement of Coastal Travels Limited conformity as well as Implementation of Safety Management System (SMS) for its airlines.
For his part, IATA Vice president for Africa Kamil Al Awadhi said that ISSA certificate for coastal travels Limited is just a begging of its safety assurance journey and its huge success, therefore they should maintain safety standards per the ISSA standards.
Al Awadhi also urged Coastal Travels Limited to issue its ISSA certificate to its agents so that they award goes far and become well known in the country and other countries.
Also, Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority Acting Director Safety Regulation, Clara Mpili clarified further about the ISSA is a a program in which small airlines accept and enter into an agreement with the International Aviation Organization (IATA) therefore coastal Travels Limited have been qualified and it’s a huge progress for Tanzania especially airlines sector.
“Airlines are audited in accordance with the criteria and regulations of the IATA organization, if the company is able to meet the criteria it is licensed, in Africa, Coastal travel of Tanzania is the ones who have ISSA licenses and have been registered with IATA. Coastal Travel will be monitored regularly to ensure that they are performing well and complying with standards” said Mpili adding that the airline undergoing this process becomes safe in operation therefore it should enahnce operational safety, performance and efficiency
